Is Iran Targeting US Leaders? Bessent Moved To Military Base Amid Threats
After more than eight months of war, the United States is increasingly concerned that Iran could be taking the conflict beyond West Asia and onto American soil. Washington has raised alarms over alleged assassination plots targeting senior US political figures, an Iran-linked network accused of involvement in nearly 20 attacks across the United States and Europe, and Tehran's latest underground missile complex.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has reportedly moved from his Washington residence to a military base following threats attributed to Iran. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and White House Chief of Staff Stephen Miller have also shifted to military bases or protected accommodation over security concerns.
According to reports, a senior intelligence official in the Trump administration warned that Iranian plots against American personnel and citizens had reached an advanced stage. Security concerns surrounding Bessent increased after the Wall Street Journal published an aerial photograph of his Georgetown mansion, making its location identifiable.
Bessent has become a key architect of Washington's economic offensive against Tehran. Since August, he has overseen Operation Economic Outcast, which uses sanctions and financial pressure to target Iran's banking channels, weaken its economy and pressure it to stop attacks on shipping and reopen the Strait of Hormuz. The campaign operates alongside the US naval blockade of Iranian ports.
Former US ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley has also highlighted an alleged assassination plot linked to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). In 2024, Pakistani businessman Asif Merchant travelled to the US and approached people he believed could arrange political assassinations. However, they were undercover FBI officers, and Merchant reportedly paid them a $5,000 advance. The plot was stopped before an attack occurred.
In March 2026, a federal jury convicted Merchant of murder-for-hire and attempted international terrorism. Prosecutors identified Donald Trump, former president Joe Biden and Nikki Haley as potential targets. Merchant testified that he had been directed by Iran's Revolutionary Guard and that his handlers had threatened his family. Tehran has denied plotting attacks against American officials.
The military dimension has added another concern. On November 10, the IRGC Aerospace Force unveiled a new underground missile complex, attended by Armed Forces Chief of Staff Major General Ali Abdollahi and Aerospace Force Commander Brigadier General Majid Mosavi. Footage showed hundreds of ballistic missiles and a deliberately blurred weapon, suggesting Tehran wanted to conceal part of its arsenal.
Another cruise missile displayed on a truck attracted attention because of its resemblance to America's AGM-158 JASSM (Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile), a stealthy long-range weapon capable of striking targets 400 to 1,000 km away, depending on the variant. Open-source intelligence analysts and IRGC-linked accounts have suggested that Iran reverse-engineered the American missile after recovering an unexploded JASSM during Operation Epic Fury.
Iran has previously reverse-engineered American technology, including the Azarakhsh fighter jet, based on the F-5, and the Shahed-171 drone, developed using technology from the captured American RQ-170 Sentinel. The IRGC has also claimed to capture an MQM-170 drone for examination.